Sunday, May 13, 2018

For the uninitiated, that's the ship name for Rey and Kylo Ren - the two characters from the latest Star Wars trilogy who represent the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force. Their fateful bond and intertwining destinies have spurred the imagination of fans who dare (or dare not) hope for their romantic relationship to succeed. Who else other than Rey is able call Kylo by his real name Ben, without having him visibly scowl and flinch?

Thanks to Rian Johnson, Reylo fans were given more soul food in "The Last Jedi". After much debate, Reylo has now become canon. The sexual tension during their ForceTime together was undeniable. And ooh, those few seconds of shirtless Kylo. *fans self* Mmmm...

A deluge of Reylo fanart has been flooding social media since then, and many of them have been either tragically angsty, gleefully humourous, or simply beautifully rendered.

To keep the flame of Reylo going, Red Dot Diva will be putting up a blog series on selected artists who have produced some of the popular Reylo fan art in social media. The first in the series is an interview with USC animation department graduate, Rachel Xin.

Rachel hails from China, and before studying in USC, she was a graduate of Beijing Film Academy, majoring in Animation. She has also recently finished a freelance job at Warner Bros as a character designer. Her passion is drawing (obviously!), and she enjoys watching movies and travelling.

One just needs to take a peek at Rachel's website and social media timeline to see that her fluid, almost Chinese brush-like artistic style is obviously East Asian. Other hints include the posture and facial expression of the characters in her art.

These translate so well in her Reylo art, as Chinese love stories are usually quite tragic, and Rachel skillfully infuses that sentiment with Western pop-culture with nuanced details that are familiar to Asian fans.

It is amazing how Rachel is able to conceptualize and make these static images stick in one's visual memory. Judging by her artwork and content, Red Dot Diva is sure Rachel will go far. So, she got in touch with Rachel to find out more about her art style, her thoughts on Reylo, and her aspirations.

Red Dot Diva: How did you get into art/ illustration and animation? Rachel:I have been fond of drawing since I was a kid. The white wall in my house was painted to a mess by me. The good thing was that my parents never blamed me for that. Instead, they sent me to various interest classes, like piano, dancing, calligraphy and drawing.

For a 4-year-old, these classes were pretty heavy, so I found all kinds of excuses to skip the classes. I pretended to be sick to avoid practicing piano, but I never gave up on art! From that time I knew I probably would draw for the rest of my life! I love drawing manga, watching animation and movies. I love telling stories.
My parents had always been supporting me with the attitude of “do what you like”, so naturally, I chose a high school which specializes in fine arts. I went to the best film school in China to learn animation, and after that I chose to further my study in the U.S.!

Sunday, September 3, 2017

After the scintillating May the 4th celebration that was held at Gardens by the Bay, Red Dot Diva found it difficult not to feel disappointed about the "Experience the Force" at Orchard Road. She certainly did not feel much of the Force, and is pretty sure many Star Wars fans feel the same way.

Despite having a larger scale of pop-up activities compared to previous Force Friday events, most of the booths in the stretch felt flat. It was as if the First Order had given up hope after Starkiller Base blew up, and decide to get drunk at a Mos Eisley bar. Heck, it might even be more fun to be at a Mos Eisley cantina, but more on that later.

Here are the two main activities that Red Dot Diva thought did not make the mark.

DO OR DON'T DO, THERE IS NO TRY

1. "Millennium Falcon"Red Dot Diva took pics of the set up the day before, curious about what this "Millennium Falcon Replica" looked like. At that time, the size of the model was not revealed. When she finally found where it was located and saw the set up, she felt terribly disappointed.

Seriously??!

It was very small (website later announces that it's a 1/6th scale), made only of cardboard with custom printed paper wrap, and mounted on a few weird ugly black pedestals. It looked like somebody without thumbs decided to indulge himself in a low cost art and craft project. Those pedestals were fully blacked out later on.

Not surprisingly, there have been many fans who have seen it, now call this the "Pizza Box Millennium Falcon".

1 September is also Force Friday II, a global event when the launch of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" toys and merchandise will be celebrated by fans all over the world. If the first Force Friday in 2015 was any indication, there should be a lot of social media interaction around the globe, as toys are unboxed and fan reactions are shared live. Disney promises that this year's event will be an even more unique experience for the fans, with the use of new technology and more immersive ways to bring the Star Wars universe to life.

Local Star Wars fans will not be not left out either. At ION Basement 4, new items will be released at the stroke of midnight on 1 September (Friday). If you are all out to get the latest stuff, get prepared for a small crowd lining up for the unveiling. So be there early!

The Star Wars festivities at ION Orchard are Free of Charge, and will lead on to even more fun activities held during pop-culture convention, STGCC (9 & 10 September). The entire festival is organised by ReedPOP and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia, with event partner ION Orchard, and the support of the Singapore Tourism Board.

So what can fans expect during the 10 glorious days of "Star Wars: Experience the Force Singapore"?

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Local Star Wars fans would have already been aware or signed up for the first Star Wars Run held on May 6th organized by sports event management company, Esprimo.

In addition to the themed run, the company has also collaborated with the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to make this year's May The 4th celebration into a three-day festival at Gardens by the Bay's Supertree Grove.

The galactic shindig kicks off on Thursday May 4th with appearances of Chewbacca and Kylo-Ren, a SaberTrees Light-up of the supertrees as well as the specially choreographed Garden Rhapsody Star Wars Edition light show set to the movie franchise's iconic soundtrack.

A replica of the two-legged All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) will also be standing guard at the Supertree Grove. This should be a great photo opportunity for any Star Wars fans, especially if you are dressed for the occasion!